


attempting

by runningfaucet



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aromantic Reader, Asexual Reader, Attempted Kissing, Banter, F/M, Flirting, Inspired by Jungwoo constantly attempting to kiss the other members, M/M, Make-out, Multi, Neutral Pronouns, Other, Pining if you squint, Platonic Hand Holding, Platonic Kissing, Skinship, Small bit of an existential crisis somewhere, Smooching, University AU, and the reader not having it basically, aro-ace reader, big brother jeno, genderless reader, jungwoo attempting to kiss THE READER, may i present, slice of life kinda, spoilers in the tags btw, well banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 19:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningfaucet/pseuds/runningfaucet
Summary: it was a game, really.him leaning in for a kiss, and you dodging him every time.but really, he never just asked.





	attempting

* * *

The tightening of his hand on your side was the only warning you got before Jungwoo’s face came a little too close and you strained your neck to get your own away from it. He didn’t follow your movement, instead resumed his former, more relaxed position, for which you were grateful.

“Ew, gross.” You commented, wiping the not-happened smooch off your cheek and detangling your bodies from each other before leaving the light brown haired guy. He pouted in your direction as you shimmied in between Jeno and Mark, currently both very busy in spooning their icecreams. Jeno glared at Jungwoo.

“Dude, chill. This is a group-hang-out, keep your flirting to yourself!”

You huffed and took another mouthful of your own ice cream. “This boy couldn’t flirt with anyone if his life depended on it. He’s just a pain.”

A grin spread on your lips as the teasing made Jungwoo’s ears heat up and he jutted out his bottom lip in fake hurt.

“You wound me! I thought we had chemistry!”

“Your mom has chemistry.” Jaehyun commented from shortly behind and Mark snorted in his McFlurry. Jungwoo’s ears were the colour of cherries now, but he laughed along with Mark.

“What movie are we watching anyways?” Johnny piped up from where he was trailing behind Jaehyun and Doyoung, waiting for Taeyong who rose from where he’d just re-tied his shoelaces. The latter took his own ice cream cup from Johnny and then both sped up to merge with the rest of the group.

“Uh…” Jeno dragged out, squinting his eyes at the still too tiny movie posters plastered over the front of the cinema that had appeared at the border of your vision, despite the glasses on his nose.

“Something funny or action-y please, I can’t take another hit like Infinity War or some shit.” You grumbled.

“IW was… like so long ago.” Jungwoo seemed to have recovered from the earlier rejection and sidled up to you once more. That was, he attempted to, but Jeno poked his elbow into Jungwoo’s ribcage, clearly showing he was not willing to give up his own spot besides you just like that. The brunet rubbed his hand over the sore spot but didn’t lose his train of thought.

“And if I remember correctly you weren’t even that much of an emotional wreck, you didn’t cry right? You were just… angry.”

"Anger is an emotion, Woo-woo.” Jeno commented quietly, looking at Jungwoo. He was met with slightly puzzled eyes and an expression the opposite of understanding.

“Good point though, I could make for something exciting, too!” Jaehyun chimed in, underlining your previous statement.

You wrinkled your nose at Jungwoo but swallowed a remark with the last of your icecream, dropping the cup in a nearby bin afterwards. The gap you’d been in previously closed in your absence. Upon rejoining the group your right side was left defenseless when Jungwoo bumped the side of his hip into yours, pushing you into Jeno’s bigger frame who immediately wrapped a protective arm around you to keep you close. You stuck out your tongue, relishing in the slightly miffed expression on the brunet’s face upon the new evolvement of the situation.

 

* * *

 

 

You were spared of Jungwoo’s attention during the movie, seated safely between Taeyong and Mark, who were both quick to shut up everyone who might interrupt their film-watching-experience. Only a single piece of popcorn found its way into the salsa sauce accompanying your nachos, expertly thrown in a high arch over the head of an unassuming Taeyong.

You leaned back to make eye-contact with the marksman behind this kill-shot and complimented him on it, earning a confident grin in return.

 

* * *

 

 

Jungwoo’s arm slinging itself over your shoulder was enough to make you suspicious. Nevertheless you smiled up at the fellow student who fell into step with you effortlessly.

“Hey Uwu, what’s up.”

He shuddered.

“Never say that again, please. I’m allergic.”

“What, uwu?”

He cringed again, wrinkling his nose, looking unfairly adorable doing so. Not even bothering to attempt to hide it, you laughed out loud, which prompted an exasperated gasp from your current attachment.

“Don’t do that too often, you’ll get the wrinkles stuck on your face.” You only noticed he didn’t look away from your gaze after you were done smoothing down his forehead with your fingers. The soft smile on his face was radiating with happiness, warming you thoroughly.

Seeing your friends happy was more often than not the source of your own increased levels of endorphins.

 

Before you could inquire as to why he was being so cheerful today of all days - there was a particularly nasty test coming up around noon - something in his expression changed. It was minimal and you needed a moment too long to decipher it which gave him the advantage of getting way closer to your face than you usually allowed.

“Jungw-oh my god, no!!” You took a generous step sideways, slipping out of Jungwoo’s grasp. He let you, as always, sheepishly grinning while stuffing his now free hand into his pants. His face turned towards the front, like nothing ever happened. Grumbling, you moved back into the spot by his side you had had before.

There was an ease in Jungwoo’s steps, the way he carried his jacket over one arm and had his bag slung over one shoulder.

“What got you so cheery today?” You finally asked, not being able to let the almost outright _smugness_ in the usually so very timid guy, go.

“You.” He answered in the same breath, unabashedly turning his head and looking down on you with a smile that could light up the whole campus. You kept the most neutral, unimpressed expression on your face, only rolling your eyes at the sappy answer on the inside.

It never took long until Jungwoo cracked and admitted to what _actually_ had him in such a great mood. Today, it was because he finally got his car back from his parents after they borrowed it for an extended amount of time while moving places.

“We can finally go stargazing outside the city, like I promised you at the beginning of school!” Jungwoo exclaimed, twirling around to fully face you, holding out his arms in enthusiasm.

“Uh, are we remembering the same thing? I mentioned I liked your NASA shirt and you basically invited yourself into hanging out with Jeno and me, before inviting-out Jeno so it’d just be us two.” You shook your head, one corner of your mouth pulled into a lopsided grin.

Jeno, your self-anointed bigger brother, had not been thrilled by Jungwoo’s sudden intrusion into the previously calm conversation.

Now, the brunet whined and poked your side. “C’mon, I wanna celebrate having my trusty ride back! My DeLorean. My Batmobile. My Tardis-in-disguise. My ride or die. -My baby.”

You look back to him and huffed.

“Fine, you convinced me. Let’s ace the test and go for pizza afterwards.”

Like a switch flipped, the previously euphoric expression slowly faded from his face. You furrowed your eyebrows at him, mildly offended.

“No? No Pizza?”

He completely ignored your last comment, instead continuing to lose all colour in his face.

“Test? We had a test today? Since when??”

 

* * *

 

 

Jungwoo was still a puddle on the floor four hours later, after the test had well passed, and it took the combined effort of Taeyong and you to get him out from under the black cloud hanging over his head.

He looked slightly better once he sat down behind the driver’s seat of his cute VW, even though his eyes were still a little distant.

“Hey.” You said softly, leaning forward to catch his gaze. He looked over briefly, fiddling with the steering wheel.

“You’ll be fine. It’s not even that big part of the grade, if you really did completely fuck it up, you can still do some of the extra work during the rest of the year and smooth out whatever dent you made today.”

He sighed and placed his outstretched arms over the wheel.

“I know. I just- I completely forgot about it. How could I just, forget about it? -I don’t deserve pizza.” Another sigh, and you looked ahead again, sat on your hands.

“I’ll pay. C’mon. I’m hungry, and you know, one of those little lava cakes from Domino’s will get you your good mood back. I’m sure of it.”

He turned his head, expression still droopy and lowballing your stomach. Legitimately upset Jungwoo had an unparalleled stronghold on you like nothing else - not that you’d ever admit that to anyone out loud.

“How sure are you?”

“Like… 80.97% sure.”

You held his eye contact until he looked away and mumbled a defeated “Damnit.”

A grin spread on your face as he put the little car in reverse, guiding it out of the maze that is the student parking lot, and out on the road.

 

His mood did brighten tremendously after you insisted to pay once more and gave him both of the little lava cakes. He protested at first, knowing how much you liked them, until he saw you ordered cookies for yourself and finally shut up. You ended up sharing the cookies and having a cake each; Jungwoo offering to carry the boxes with leftovers once you get ready to leave the restaurant.

Your connected hands gently swung back and forth on your walk to the car, parked a few minutes away. After dropping the boxes in the trunk and closing the door, Jungwoo turned to you, one hand still resting on the roof of his car.

“I’m sorry. I can’t draw- draw? Draw. Drive. I can’t- Stop laughing, this is serious!”

You did your best to rein in the laughter that bubbled up after he’d slipped, pressing the knuckles of your fist against your lips in anticipation for whatever news he had to break to you. Jungwoo took a moment of staring into the distance before his eyes landed on you again. He opened his mouth, the corners twitching already, and you lost it once more.

“Ahem.” You cleared your throat and demonstratively furrowed your eyebrows.

“As- I was saying; I’m sorry. But I can’t drive you home right now.” He came closer, placing both his hands on your sides, tilting his head forward.

“Hmm,” You played along, linking your hands behind his neck and looking over his left shoulder. “I wonder, why is that?”

The brunet made a show of attempting to say something before stopping, rethinking it once more, before, finally, licking over his lips and deepening the stare into your eyes.

“I- God it’s so hard to say it, but… I simply… I ate too much. I can’t move one bit. So I can’t drive. I’m sorry. Looks like we’ll be stuck here, in this beautiful-” His brown eyes swept to the side, over the dumpsters and the shabby walls where the paint peeled off, the traffic sign that was so bleached by the sun it was almost entirely white. The unidentifiable pile of something a few meters away that could be garbage, puke or a dead animal. “-this _beautiful_ place.”

You quietly raised your eyebrows, playing with the tiny tip of his hair at the nape of his neck.

“Well,” And now it was your time to lean forward, closer to him. Maybe it was the sun painting a blush across his cheeks, maybe wasn’t. “Lucky for you, I am a very able and, dare I say- great driver? So I will happily be your Chauffeur for the evening, Mr. Kim.”

Two fingers fished the keys out of his pant’s right front pocket and you slipped faster into the driver’s seat than Jungwoo could defrost his legs after you had reached into his pants.

After another heartbeat he begrudgingly joined you in his car, tensing every time you cranked the stick shift a little too unforgiving, touched your foot down on the gas a little too enthusiastically.

The city grew smaller behind you as you approached the outskirts of town, where you and, a little further out, he, lived. The sun was notably setting earlier each day.

Jungwoo’s hands tensed around each other as you momentarily looked away from the road, with one hand reaching over his lap to the small cupboard hiding behind the panel above his knees. You vaguely remembered a pair of shades in there, your fingers finding them quicker than the owner of the car could ask just what the hell you were looking for. After shaking them open and propping them on your nose you gave his baffled face a victorious grin.

"Ayyy who’s the most badass on the block now, eh?”

He laughed and bit down on his pointer finger as he looked out the passenger side of the car, but you could tell when his eyes came straying back to latch on to you.

The sun was golden, the leaves on the trees lining the street red and orange and yellow in an early greeting of autumn.

You could hear your phone ping with a new message as Jungwoo clicked his own shut and dropped it back between his legs on the seat.

 

* * *

 

 

“You know, if you’d tell him to shut the fuck up he’d probably leave you alone with his attempts at kissing you or all that physical affection stuff.” Jeno took his bubble tea back from out of your hands, and you stuffed them into the kangaroo pocket of the oversized hoodie you were sporting.

“Maybe I don’t want to tell him to stop.” You avoided Jeno’s caring, dark eyes, as he sipped on the tea. “Once you tell people to shut up, a part of their soul dies. At least for you.”

He continued to look at you, you could tell, but you were too stubborn to lift your view from the cracked cement tiles that made up the sidewalk.

“Maybe I like having his attention. Maybe I like the idea of the possibility of being normal.” Your voice died down towards the end.

“Hey.” Jeno’s voice was soft, the hand that fell on your shoulder gentle. “You are normal. Okay? I, as your big brother, am telling you right now. You are normal. There is nothing weird or alien about you or your orientation. Okay?”

Jeno tries, he really does, you thought as you watched him with a tilted head. A moment longer in which you tested his unwavering gaze before giving in and nodding, accepting the hug he offered.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have- My words were garbage. I’m an idiot. This is why I’m failing my language tests.”

You huffed out a laugh into his chest and playfully smacked his arm.

“You are an idiot, I agree on that. But I’ll give you another chance at voicing your thoughts a little more articulate.”

He let you pluck the drink out of his hand and take another sip, looking at him expectedly.

“Okay, what I meant was; Jungwoo? He’s a lost cause. Absolute crackhead. Totally hopeless. But I really enjoy watching you two interact. It’s cute how he always tries his latest pick-up lines on you. And I must say, you? Shutting him down every time without doing literally anything? An art. You’re an artist. And I respect, and possibly, fear, your resting bitch face - that’s a absolute unit and a force to be reckoned with. And believe me, I’m not saying you’re not capable of defending yourself in- any case. But if you ever grow tired of Jungwoo’s flirting, and want him to stop, but he doesn’t- just tell Taeyong, or Mark, or me, or anyone of us, and we’ll take of it. Okay? I’m taking my job as your bro very seriously.”

He puffed out his chest for show and you chuckled, but his expression didn’t lose its serious undertone.

“Thank you, I am delighted at your praise.” You raised your eyebrows at him, attempting a fake-eloquent english regal person’s expression. “But really, that with Jungwoo is just banter. I don’t know where you guys all read your guide on flirting, but if you think that is flirting, then what Haechan does with our tutor is like, 10th base or something.”

Referring to the eagerness of said fellow student to aide the tutor of the Math course that basically only existed so anyone who needed to study it and understood shit all in previous schools could catch up, you slurped up some of the coconut jellies. Jeno let out a sound of protest at the action and resolutely took his cup back.

“Besides. You agree with me when I say Jung-uwu is all bark and no bite, right?” At that, Jeno laughed.

“Yes, totally. He’d probably melt into a puddle of despair if someone were to actually, you know, _flirt_ -flirt with him.” He paused, to have a moment where the image sunk into both your heads. Without a word said, your eyes found each other again, a similar expression of uneasiness mixed with laughter on your faces.

“Let’s not think about dear KJ at the mercy of a lapdancer, shall we?” The black haired male said, then, a serious expression that shifted into a face splitting grin right after the words left his mouth. You voiced your agreement in a similarly serious manner before laughing about the ridiculousness of the scenario.

 

“What if he’s actually really smooth though?” You continued, a finger on your lips, but the tension from before had dissolved. Jeno gave you a side-eye before buying into the speculation, and you continued to wager the arguments about any of Jungwoo’s possible, hidden mannerisms.

 

* * *

 

 

Nonetheless you observed Jungwoo’s actions a little closer of the next weeks.

 

He continued his attempts, as always, and it only added to you thinking of it as a big game of his, nothing that had actual intent behind it.

He knew you knew he was trying to land a smooch, and you knew he knew you were going to deflect. It was a dangerous game you were playing, but the thrill - at least on his side - seemed to be worth it.

 

Winter had come by now, yet the campus was cozy warm inside.

You met up in the library one sun-flooded afternoon, to study for the last test of the season before winter break and the new year would reset the clock on that.

Jungwoo had already secured your favourite table, right by the window overlooking the nearby park and the local lake, dubbed duck pond. The sun was filtering directly through the glass, and in an attempt to lessen the impact of the heat, the brunet had stripped off his clothing, peeled off the numerous layers until all that was remaining was a loose t shirt. His hand, supporting his head, was clamped over the junction of neck and shoulder on his right side, where his shirt had slipped aside and exposed his collar bone; his left hand busy holding up the corner of a page his eyes were scanning over.

“Heyo.” You greeted him, dropping your bag and mix of winter accessories on the unoccupied half of the table. Jungwoo looked up, and by the unfocused gaze you could tell he was still halfway going through the material in his book before he blinked and a smile lit up his face.

“Hello! Please, have a seat. Have a cookie. Make yourself at home.”

You gasped, touching a hand over your heart and batting your eyelashes demurely at the gentleman seated next to you.

“My, what a royal welcome! Ok, what do we really need to work on with you today?”

He bit off half of a biscuit that he had treated himself to, holding it between his teeth while humming and skipping through the pages closer to the window.

“Here’s- a list I made.”

 

 

* * *

 

The sun sped across the sky, similar to your pen and highlighter gliding over paper.

As it closed in on five, the sun dipping Jungwoo’s hair in a pretty shade of orange, you furrowed your eyebrows at one of the pages in your own notebook.

“Hey, Woo, can you take a look at this?”

“Mhm?” He had another biscuit in his mouth but placed down his folder, sliding into the chair next to yours to get a better look.

“So, this one. I think I copied it wrong - the equation doesn’t add up, does it? Can you- Do you know where I went wrong?”

“You went wrong in not following my lead.” Was the first thing coming out of his mouth after he had swallowed his cookie and you groaned. He licked his lips and grinned, apparently feeling something akin to _satisfaction_ at your reaction.

Jungwoo suddenly leaned forward, and on impulse rather than conscious decision based on past experiences, you leaned back, avoiding contact once more. He laughed after seeing the perplexed expression on your face at the sudden, uncontrolled reaction.

The talk with Jeno, speculating about whether or not Jungwoo actually had something to back up his endless compliments and daring talks, filtered back into your head.

It was half expected when he froze as you turned the stick around and leaned in, yourself, maybe a little closer than he did.

“You wanna kiss me soo badly, don’t you…” A quick glance around the library proved the area you were sat in currently deserted. Deciding to lay it thick, you bit your lower lip, letting your gaze flicker up from his lips to his eyes. “C’mon, do it.”

You were so close, you felt when your breath touched his face. An agonizingly long moment neither of you moved. Then you leaned back, poorly attempting to hide the grin spreading on your face at the utterly stunned look on his face.

“Don’t tease me.” You whispered, and it visibly shook him. He averted his eyes and ducked his head away until you knocked your shoulder with his.

He looked back, somehow still very much resembling a deer caught in the headlights.

“So? What about this equation?”

“The-? Oh. Yeah. Uh, um. S-so, you…” He trailed off, looking back and forth between his notes and your own, trying to figure out where the mistake had slipped into your writing. You could almost see the beads of sweat roll down his forehead, similar to a cartoon character.

 

He was still giving you looks when you exited the quiet space of learning later on, once more bundled up against the cold that made the duck pond freeze over a few days ago.

“Aw c’mon,” You pouted, as you caught him looking away once more, his ears still considerably much redder than the rest of his face. “Are you still upset about me making an advance on you, for a change?”

He grumbled something into his scarf before meeting your eyes again.

“You’re supposed to flinch away! I- I didn’t plan for you to ever-” He stopped himself and jutted out his bottom lip. You laughed.

“Okay, I promise, I won’t tease you again. I need you functioning for my test, I can’t close the year with a bad grade.”

He latched onto the change of subject, falling into step with you literally and metaphorically.

“You won’t even know what grade it’ll be until next year.”

“Yeah but- It’s the feeling, you know?” You lifted your hands to emphasize your words under Jungwoo’s laughing eyes. “I’d like to finish on a high note. And you, Mr. You-won’t-know-your-grade-until-next-year, the God of Studies knows _you_ could use a good grade, too.”

Referencing the completely messed up test from months ago had the brunet groaning and dropping his head on your shoulder.

“Whyyyy did you have to remind me of that… that absolute _disgrace_ of a wasted hour of my life.”

“Because I can’t stroke your ego all the time, Woo-woo; Sometimes you need to be brought back down to reality, too.”

He lifted his head to shot you a hurt look.

“I don’t like the words coming out of your mouth right now very much. I’ll pretend you haven’t said anything.”

 

You both took the subway home because the front window of his trusty little car had been too frosted over this morning to get it scraped clean in the few minutes your friend had had left after oversleeping.

You looped a facemask over your ears before boarding the train, having battled a cough in the last days.

To your unfortunate luck you caught one of the first trains of rush hour, and soon enough your back ended up pressed flat against one of the separation walls, your bag held in front of you, with Jungwoo and his legs to either side of yours and holding on to a bar over your head with one hand. He sighed as another wave of people pressed into the decidedly too tiny compartment and forced him to minimally shuffle forward, further invading your personal space. Not that it mattered.

For a station, he rested his head on your shoulder while you absentmindedly scrolled through twitter. Once more the doors closed and the train jostled into movement.

“Hey.” Jungwoo breathed, and you turned your head. He was right in front of your face, noses a finger-width apart, and now he was the one biting his bottom lip. He wiggled his eyebrows and you looked away, laughing under your mask.

Without warning gravity increased as the train lurched to an unscheduled stop in the middle of the tunnel, the windows showing nothing but darkness. Vaguely you registered Jungwoo was now a lot closer than before, his elbow meeting with the plastic glass next to your head in what must have been a painful thud. For a moment you stared into each other’s eyes.

Then you closed the tiny gap and pressed your fabric covered lips on his for the fracture of a second, breaking away laughing right after. Jungwoo’s face displayed nothing but shock, for the second time today.

His eyes were wide as marbles and his mouth left agape. His ears were burning again but you only caught a glimpse of them before he buried his face in your shoulder, where your scarf spilled over your coat.

The crowd surrounding you thinned out at the next station which gave him room to breathe and seperate himself from you.

He leaned his back against the bar next to the plastic glass that you’re resting against, a hand covering his mouth.

“Space control to planet Jungwoo? Do you copy?” You asked, barely able to contain the chuckle. He shot you a glare, half exasperated and half annoyed.

“I- I told you not to-”

“Hey, I didn’t tease.” You lifted your hands in defense.

“This- No! This is not how this works.” He stared at you for a moment before turning his head the other direction. Heartbeats later he looked back, as if to check you were still there, only to avert his eyes again, flustered.

 

“Did you ever plan on actually kissing me?” You asked after following him when he found two free seats.

The moment your eyes met didn’t last long.

“I don’t know. I never thought this far.” He huffed out a small sigh before turning his head and finally looking at you for longer. “I didn’t have the impression you ever wanted me to.”

“Well… If you ever need someone to platonically make out with, I guess I wouldn’t mind if you asked me.”

He swallowed and nodded, busying himself in looking down at his knees.

“What about now?” His eyes were a bit slower in leaving his legs than he turned his head towards you. You lifted an eyebrow.

“I’m sick right now. I doubt it’d be worth catching a cold over a kiss.”

“What if I don’t care?” His voice was quiet, the usual playfulness gone from his expression. Both of his hands were pressed flat between his knees.

“I don’t know. Then it would be very irresponsible for allowing myself in getting my friend sick, no?”

He bit down on his lips, sighing.

“Okay, let me phrase that differently. Can I please kiss you?”

“Yes of course, Jungwoo.”

He was very careful in taking the mask off your face, curling one hand around your jaw and then leaning forward.

The kiss was very much like him; Soft, easy, sweet. Lips molding to yours in and ease you'd missed for monthsof not receiving any of this kind if attention. You broke away after a moment, foreheads touching, and smiling.

“And? Feeling the sickness yet?”

“I think I can risk one more.” The words he uttered were in such an unfamiliar low pitch it almost sounded strange.

The second kiss was similar, testing, inching forward. Until he tilted his head more and added pressure, until you felt his teeth nibbling on your bottom lip, until the tip of his tongue flickered over the spot his teeth had been at seconds before.

This time it was him leaning back, his dark eyes only leaving your mouth after a few short breaths. When a grin broke out over his face you knew you were good.

He was downright giddy, smiling at you with such pride in himself it was difficult to keep your own composure.

“You’re cute, you know that?” You shook your head, feeling his hand tightening around yours.

“You’re cuter. All flustered and bothered.” At that your eyes were quick to jump back to his face, offense written all over yours.

“Me? Flustered? Excuse you but have you-”

He dropped his head on your shoulder before you could finish, quelling the exclaim in its sapling state.

“-I can’t believe I fell for that tease. You’re a little shit, you know that?”

Jungwoo only giggled, snuggling closer.

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by Jungwoo's countless (haha) attempts at kissing the other members, and on a blurb written by @ zerojisung on tumblr.
> 
> speaking of which: come bother me there -> @nam-nam-joon
> 
> if you enjoyed this, consider leaving a comment + making my day ^-^


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